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Saturday, July 25, 2015

The Saga of Majenko: Blood Pig Champion!

Before we bring you the fourth installment of the Saga of Majenko, the true hero of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path, I'd like to remind you that I've got a special deal going on until the end of August. What kind of special deal? The kind that comes with free books, and no annoying ads on this blog! For more information check out this post with all the details.

We good? Good. Also, if you want to get the full story about what's going on with Majenko and his band of intrepid adventurers, you should really start from the beginning. As such, here's the full list of all ten installments of this story.

After The Plague

When last we left our intrepid adventurers they had saved the city of Korvosa from a deadly plague, and found evidence that the Queen was behind it! They'd been on a way to a meeting with Korvosa's legendary hero Blackjack, who was going to take them to the city's seneschal, the one man who could legally strip her of her power and crown. Then we were ambushed by the legendary Red Mantis Assassins, two of which were handily dispatched by the Great and Powerful Majenko.

No problem.

No sooner had we put out the fires and collected the dead assassin's gear than we found a secret compartment in the fencing master's bedroom. In it, to the surprise of one person, we find the costume of the city's great hero, Blackjack! Wondering where said great hero/fencing teacher is, we step outside, only to meet one of his students (who joins our party to replace the barbarian we recently lost). He also tells us that an artist by the name of Scream knows where both Vencarlo/Blackjack, and the seneschal are. So we hot foot it over there... to find the place predictably ransacked.

Ransacked, but not empty.

The Bubbly, Bright Laori Vaus

Sitting in Scream's living room is an unusual sight. An elf in spiked armor, idly twirling a wickedly vicious chain, with a pouty expression on her face. The symbol of Zon Kuthon hangs from a barbed cord around her neck, but despite this she seems genuinely happy to see us.

Happy might not be the right word...

After a brief, but tense, standoff we find out that she's also looking for Scream. Despite her membership in the Brotherhood of Bones, the enemy of our enemy is our friend. So we offer to walk with Laori to a part of the island controlled by a mad gang lord who has dubbed himself the Emperor of Old Korvosa.

Let The Games Begin!

At this point we have a fencer, a magus, a cleric of a good god, a cleric of an evil god, a guardswoman, a sorcerer whom we pulled out of the gutter on our journey, and a scaly ball of draconic power. So when we arrive at the emperor's stronghold to make our request we're given a choice; go away, or play a violent round of the game known as Blood Pig! No weapons, no magic, just one team pounding the other until someone scores high enough.

You can still keep your half-plate, though.

We agree to the game, and things quickly become a slog. None of us are unarmed combatants, and the opposing team is canny, dedicated, and really wants to win. Egil pops the cork on his Eversmoking Bottle, and Majenko communicates the party's positions to the sorcerer via telepathy. The sorcerer casts a fireball, and suddenly the opposing team is in shambles. Majenko then lands on Egil's shoulder, and declares himself the Blood Pig Champion (succeeding on a bluff check to convince the mostly-mad man sitting the throne that he just witnessed a colossal breath weapon coming out of the tiny little creature).

The emperor, nonplussed, acknowledges our victory and adds a new rule to the ledger that pseudodragons are forthwith banned from the game of Blood Pig. We're then led by the emperor and his gnome executioner, bruised and unarmed, down a back hallway to speak with Scream.

The Great Escape

We find Scream, terrified and deprived, curled up on a filthy cot. Pleased to see us, desperate for a chance to escape, he answers our questions about the seneschal. He informs us that the great man went to the Arkona compound for shelter and refuge, and that he and Vencarlo are likely there as we speak.

Majenko asks Scream telepathically if he would like to be rescued. He says yes.

Let's do this thing.

Majenko's first move is to sneak attack the emperor. He hits him, and the emperor rolls a fortitude save. His mouth is open to cry out for help, when his eyes roll back and he falls dead asleep from Majenko's venom. The executioner raises his ax, doing his damndest to kill us. Three rounds later he's also succumbed to sleep venom, and it snoring on the ground. We bind them, gag them, and remove their armor, and weapons... which is how we found out that the headsman was mute the whole time.

We all look at the sorcerer, who is also a gnome. We put him in the headsman's garb, and he grumps out down the hall to the throne room. He lifts the box with all of our weapons in it, and walks it back down the hall to where we are. No outcry is raised, and no one pays him any real mind. We gear up, take our loot, and then we exit stealthily through a hole in the roof. Majenko gives the prisoners one more good poke to knock them out again, and we're away over the rooftops with no one the wiser.

Of course, the story is far from over! Laori takes Scream to safety, and we are now faced with going into the lion's den of the Arkona compound... and then seeing if we can actually depose the queen. To find out, tune in next time to The Sage of Majenko: Brother to the Shoanti!

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About Me

Neal F. Litherland is an author from Northwest Indiana. He holds a bachelors degree in criminal justice from Indiana University, sword fights in his spare time, and acts as a guide to the realms fantastical.